(malakai is partially non-verbal, so when dialogue is in italics it means that she or another character is using sign language.)
"and if you find me, will you know me?"
georgia by phoebe bridgers
"Kaz, are you sure you'll be okay without your cane?" Malakai asked quietly, noticing him grimacing in pain. The duo rushed down a Little Palace hallway. This place felt familiar, like a distant voice calling her name. But the marble floors, crystal chandeliers and tall windows felt cold compared to their home in Ketterdam. Oh, how she missed the Crow Club.
"I'm fine." They both wore palace guard uniforms, searching for an ambush point. Just as he said this he groaned in pain, bracing himself on the wall.
"Kaz—" The girl reached out to him.
He shrugged her off. "I said I'm fine. Let's just keep going."
She watched him limp away and kissed her teeth in annoyance before following him. She looked down at the small diagram of the palace layout she had copied. Furrowing her eyebrows she looked back up to the empty wall beside her, running her fingers across the intricate wallpaper.
"Malakai. Come on. What are you doing?"
"There's supposed to be a room here but..." She took a step back, looking up the wall. Laying her palms flat, she pushed against it huffing when it didn't budge. Crossing her hands, she slowly pulled them apart but still, the wall stayed flush. The sound of a door slamming echoed through the hallway followed by the rhythmic sound of shoes on the tiles.
Kaz and Malakai turned quickly, pressing their backs against the wall behind a door. Through the gap, they watched intently as a Materialnik grisha opened the door with a flick of her hands. Inside was a brightly lit dressing room. Two matching black and gold keftas draped over mannequins. At the sound of the door opening a beautiful Inferni turned.
The raven haired boy turned to the bright blonde girl next to him, an eyebrow raised. She squinted back at him.
"Lynx Flush?"
Back in the performance troupe trailer the crew met again, sitting around the palace blue prints.
"I'm telling you, she's part Shu." Jesper looked to Kaz. They all tilted their heads at this.
"When exactly did you see her?"
"Just after midday."
Inej pointed at the blueprints, looking to Malakai. "What's in this room?"
"It's a fitting room. The Sun Summoner will go there to change for dinner."
"Okay, so that's where we'll grab her?" Jesper spoke. "Out of the way, clean lines of sight, easily controlled space. I like it."
Kaz leaned back in his seat frustratedly, sighing. "I'd like it, too, if it had a door."
Inej looked to Malakai with her brow knitted.
"It doesn't have a door?"
Malakai shook her head, her lips pressed together tightly. "Not one that we can use. It's a grisha lock. It took a Materialnik to open it."
"Wait... can't you open it Malakai?" Jesper tilted his head at her.
"I already tried."
"Okay. I'm assuming if a Shadow Summoner can't open it, we can't pick it."
Arken finally speaks, the Crows all turning to him. Almost forgetting that he was there. "Actually, there is a way. I can get through the door."
Kaz sat up straight. "How?"
"The locking mechanisms are Fabrikator designed. Iron cogs that slide into place without a latch. But for one of us to open it, we'll need a lodestone. With a minimum two thousand gauss external strength. Hard to find."
Malakai looked at him, confused. He sounded like he was speaking some foreign language at this point.
"Well, it's not like we're just walking around with one of those in our pockets." Jesper said matter-of-factly.
Arken rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a palm sized, ugly, black and white rock. The Crow's side eyed him.
"Oh." Malakai laughed breathily.
Holding the stone out to the blonde girl, the Conductor continued lowly. "You don't want to keep it in your pocket for too long. Not if you're intending on having children some day."
Before she could take it, Kaz spoke quickly. "All right. Arken grabs the target."
Inej did a double take at this. "You want the new guy to grab the million-kruge package?"
"The new guy knows his way around grisha locks." Nodding to the Suli girl. "Our futures depend on this. The rest of us will be setting up a lynx flush." He turned his eyes to Malakai.
"We are?" Inej asked pointedly.
Arken looked around at the teens in confusion. "What's a lynx flush?"
Inej answered him, already annoyed. "Lynx are pack hunters. Very smart."
Malakai leaned forward, staring the man down. "They clear a path for the prey." Leaning back when Kaz's cane tapped her foot.
"Oh..." The Conductor was confused by the sudden intimidation. "So, I grab the Summoner and you clear the path?"
Kaz quickly rolled the blueprints back up. "That's right. We do it before dinner. You grab. Malakai, Inej and I clear, and Jesper, make sure there's a fast way out."
"No mourners." Malakai muttered.
"No funerals." The others chimed back.
Malakai and Kaz waited for the others in the quiet staircase, standing across from one another. The girl stared down at her boot in deep thought.
"Everything okay?" Kaz's voice halted her racing mind.
Smiling up at him. "Yeah, I just... I just can't wait for all of this to be over. I seriously need a nap. And this uniform is so itchy. I'd much rather be undercover as a princess."
"Once we have the Sun Summoner it'll all be easy from there."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just really starting to miss the Crow Club. Home."
Kaz's lips formed a line as he signed, "Me too."
Then the door swung open and the sound of Inej's boots squeaking against the floor piqued their attention. The girl rushed down the stairs to them, still in her acrobat costume. Malakai handed her a guard's uniform, which she gratefully took.
"Is it my size?" The Suli girl asked the tall boy.
"You have to ask?"
"Do you remember what happened last time we did this? You got me a man's uniform."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Just be happy I'm eager to get out of this." Then she disappeared back up the stairs.
At the same time Arken descended down to them, grabbing his own uniform from Kaz's outstretched hands. "See you at the meeting point." And quickly disappeared down the hallway.
Kaz Brekker's eyes met Malakai's playful ones.
"Or not."
The three Crows roved their eyes over the crowd of well dressed men with slicked back hair and women with large puffy ball gowns. Rich people, they wouldn't survive an hour in the Barrel.
Pointing at a chandelier in the centre of the room, Kaz acknowledged the two girls that flanked him. "It's reflective glass. Bounce the light into that, and people won't know whether it's coming or going."
The two girls looked at him in annoyance before separating to stand in different entrances. Malakai's breath hitched in her throat and sweat beaded on her brow as General Kirigan stepped up onto the stage alongside a beautiful Shu girl. She wore a kefta embroidered with gold. The Sun Summoner.
"Her name is Alina Starkov." Kirigan announced to the crowd. "And she will bring liberation to us all."
A chill ran down Malakai's spine as she watched the general envelope the room in shadows with a clap of his hands. She could feel his power emanating from where she stood. The Sun Summoner stepped forward, producing a ball of light between her palms. With the entire crowd staring in amazement, Malakai felt a pair of hands pull her away. She stumbled as she was pulled into a secret doorway in the wall, plunging her into darkness.
"You were foolish to come here." Lighting a lamp, the person was finally illuminated in the darkness. It was an old woman in black robes. She was small and her hair was in a messy knot on top of her head. "Why are you here, child?"
Malakai stared at her, mouth agape. She felt like her heart was lurching against her rib cage.
"Well?" She tutted when she did not receive an answer from the confused girl. Turning into the darkness she began descending a steep staircase, the lamp held out in front of her. She turned back round to the blonde girl who only stared. "If you want you and your little friends to live, then I suggest you follow me. I'm trying to help you."
Looking down at the old woman, Malakai spoke quietly. Tilting her head. "Who are you?"
"The only hope you have of staying out of shackles. We have more in common than you may realise. You feel it too yes?"
Malakai's heart lurches again. The old woman smiled, twirling her fingers. The younger girl's eyes widened as she watched darkness dance around her hand.
"Baghra. Now hurry up."
Malakai stopped for a moment, turning to look at the closed door. Then, she silently descended down the dark staircase. Running her hand across the cold stone walls. Baghra lead her into a dimly lit room. It was cold down there and water dripped from the ceiling. The sound of people chattering muffled above them. The old woman placed the lamp down and turned to the girl who stood, watching tensely.
"You're not much of a talker... considering who your mother is." Baghra crossed her arms. "You should never have come back here, stupid girl. You are only asking for your own death."
"How did you know who I was?"
Baghra laughed, turning to sit on an old wooden box. "We are equally rare as we are powerful. Your energy is strong. I could feel you from a mile away. Which means... so can he."
"Who?"
"General Kirigan. The Darkling. Aleksander. My son. Your father. What ever you wish to call him."
"He's my father?"
"Of course he's your father!" She shouted exasperatedly. "Who else did you think your father was?"
"Well I just... I knew that I had to be related to him but I didn't know in what way. If he's my father," She paused and looked around at the dark. "then why are we hiding from him?"
"Because your father is a mad man. He has plans to take over all of Ravka, and then the whole world."
"No... no he's going to tear down the Fold. He has the Sun Summoner now."
"You believe you know more than I do? I am his mother. I raised him." She stood abruptly. "He's going to expand the Fold and use it as a weapon. Your father was the one who made it in the first place. He is not who he claims to be. He is no saviour. He is our damnation."
Baghra began pushing the girl around the corridors and up another staircase.
"Aleksander knows you are here and he will not hesitate to use you and your powers until you die, despite the fact that you are his daughter. So go. Now. Before it's too late. Never come back."
"But I—" Before Malakai could continue, Baghra pushed her out of the door and onto the grass.
"If you have anything to lose, never come back." Then the door slammed shut.
She stared at the door stunned, still sprawled across the grass. She had found herself on the ground far too often lately. Then a familiar voice echoed behind her.
"Malakai? Is that you?" The gunslinger approached her, squinting against the darkness. "What on earth are you doing on the ground? Where are Kaz and Inej?"
Malakai took his outstretched hand as she hauled herself up, peeling off the annoying layers of the uniform. Quickly fixing the now crinkled navy blue shirt.
"I don't know. I was separated from them."
A door creaked open behind them. Malakai hastily dragged Jesper behind a statue, raising her hands to darken the shadows around them. They watch in shock as the Sun Summoner quietly walked towards a carriage. She looked around, scared, as she pulled herself into the box on the back. The Phantom and the Gunslinger looked to each other with the same expression.
"Jesper Fahey, please tell me that's our carriage."
His mischievous laugh was enough of an answer for her.
Footsteps approached them quickly, Kaz and Inej. They both looked exhausted. "What happened? Are you okay?" Jesper asked them.
"Malakai, where were you? You disappeared on us." Kaz looked both annoyed and relieved.
Malakai raised her eyebrows. "I had a surprise little chat with grandma. The general knows I'm here so we need to leave, now."
The crew looked at her in confusion before Inej spoke, her voice shaking. "She's real, Jesper. She made the light sing."
Kaz's face darkened. "We lost her."
Jesper and Malakai smirked at each other and waltzed their way to the carriage. The Gunslinger spoke first. "Did we?"
Kaz and Inej followed the pair, eyeing them with confusion. "We don't know where she is."
Malakai turned to them, walking backwards. She laughed. "Don't we?"
"Just ask." Jesper laughed too, stepping onto the front of the carriage before pulling the grinning girl up with him.
Kaz and Inej looked up at the two. "Jesper... Malakai..."
"Just ask." Jesper repeated again, motioning for them to get on the carriage. Kaz took a seat beside Jesper and Inej stood next to Malakai, linking their arms together.
The raven haired boy raised his brow at the Phantom who simply beamed down at him. "Just ask, Kaz."
Sighing in annoyance, his breath billowed into the cold night. "Fine. Do we have a fix on where the target is?"
The smirking pair stayed silent as Jesper flicked the reins to go forward.
Author's Note
hey guys!! this part was a bit of a filler for the plot line but now Malakai knows the truth. her dad is a selfish psychopath, yay!!! also grandma Baghra, what a cutie. that final "just ask" scene has got to be one of my favourites from the show. it's too good. be prepared because shit is about to go down.
new update/s every night Australian Eastern Standard time!
hope you're all doing good and if not i hope that your pain will ease soon. this is a safe space. crows take care of one another. reach out.
love from valerie <3